Good morning, it’s great to be with you all today.
I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we meet and pay my respects to elders past and present. I extend this acknowledgement and respect to all First Nations people joining us today.
I would also like to acknowledge my colleague the Treasurer – the Honourable Jim Chalmers, who has been my partner in Government on this PLACE journey.
To our philanthropic partners, thank you for your support and co-investment to make PLACE a reality.
A big thank you of course to Our Place, Carlton Primary School, Gowrie Victoria and the City of Melbourne who are hosting us today.
We’re here today because our Government has made a commitment to deliver an overhaul to the way Australia tackles disadvantage.
Implementing this commitment requires us to work together differently with our partners and local communities, by shifting from traditional and siloed top-down support programs to an approach where we partner and collaborate, share decision-making and goals, and continue to learn from each other to drive better targeted and coordinated investment and effort. By innovating how we work with local communities and how we learn from each other, we will be able to drive a greater positive impact and deliver better outcomes with communities across Australia.
Partnerships for Local Action and Community Empowerment, or PLACE for short, demonstrates how we will work differently. PLACE will support local communities, government, philanthropy and other stakeholders to work together around a shared understanding of complex problems and a shared commitment to action.
The Government, together with our philanthropic partners, is proud to be jointly investing $38.6 million over five years to establish PLACE and to launch it into the world today.
PLACE will be a not-for-profit, independent national organisation that will support communities to identify tailored, place-based solutions to address their needs and aspirations in areas they identify such as the early years, health, education, employment, youth justice and net zero.
The need for PLACE emerged from community, who called for a national hub that could support a different way of working with community, and that recognised community was best placed to understand their needs and how best to create positive change.
PLACE will provide this support by connecting community with best practice, building workforce capacity and capability, sharing research, data, tools and information, and supporting collaborative solutions with communities to accelerate progress on the things that matter most to them.
A key feature of PLACE that distinguishes it from other community initiatives is its structure. It was imperative for us that the essence of working differently with community was embedded in the structure of PLACE. This is reflected in the shared governance arrangements that we have with our philanthropic partners and the community to put community at the centre of the PLACE, and ensure community views are always heard.
We also want the Government’s involvement in PLACE to be different – that is not just connected to PLACE through the traditional grant agreement, where we are at arm’s length, but also as an active participant in its governance and in the work with communities to meet their needs and their identified priorities.
I am delighted to be announcing PLACE here at the Carlton Learning Precinct, which is an integrated child and family centre and primary school. The Precinct is part of a diverse multicultural community, and where more than 85 per cent of students at Carlton primary speak a first language other than English.
The Precinct is the result of work over many years between Carlton Primary School and local community members to meet the needs and aspirations identified by the community and their families and children. Since 2019, these early efforts have been amplified with the support of Our Place, Gowrie Victoria and the City of Melbourne.
The Precinct includes maternal child health nurses, a Services Australia visiting service and adult employment and education services. Local leaders continue to work together with and listens to the community to ensure these services are co-ordinated to meet community needs and to stop families falling through the cracks. This integrated approach has already led to a 20 per cent increase in school enrolments since 2022.
The Precinct also offers an insight into the practical benefits PLACE will have for communities like Carlton, including include offering:
- tools, frameworks, and guidance to help define and measure the impact of the Precinct, and
- specialised courses to equip Precinct staff and members manage complex, multi-stakeholder collaborations more effectively.
It is our vision, together with our philanthropic partners, that PLACE will support the efforts of communities like in the Carlton Learning Precinct, and ultimately the projects PLACE works on will be underpinned by working together differently with and listening to community..
The establishment of PLACE reflects a commitment to working differently, listening to what works locally and working in close collaboration with communities, philanthropy, and across governments to support accelerate positive change in local communities.
PLACE is a key priority highlighted by the Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children, and I am proud that we have been able to bring it to fruition together with our philanthropic partners.
I want to thank the Department of Social Services for the strong and productive working relationship it has established with philanthropy and their significant work in getting us to this point.
I’m excited to see what comes out of PLACE to help those communities and Australians experiencing disadvantage that need it most to thrive.
Thank you.